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‘They guided us through the whole transformation process . . .’

We never could have made the transformation to Lean without ILS. They guided us through the whole transformation process. We worked closely with Parthi (Damodaraswamy, ILS director of operations). In fact, Parthi’s leadership was so critical to our success that we even named him an honorary Director of Lean Transformation at Columbia Forest Products.

Education is the key to any transformation of this magnitude. It’s a matter of constant reinforcement. This is a huge concept, and you have to get people to understand that we’re trying to improve everything we do. We had to address employees’ concerns and reaffirm that the only reductions in workforce would be through attrition.

But it has been well worth the effort. Weâve seen annual savings of over $2.5 million. We were able to accomplish this by looking at every aspect of our operation and by making better use of our resources - labor, energy, equipment and so on.

I talk to other people who are well schooled and well known in the Lean field and ILS comes highly recommended. Their expertise and their ability to get things done are second to none.

Columbia Forest Products is North America’s largest manufacturer of hardwood plywood and hardwood veneer and a longstanding leader in the sustainable wood products industry.